18-Nov, start time: 12:35, end time: 13:44 - Attendance: 2,120

BRA	3	25	25	25	-	-	75
VEN	0	19	16	20	-	-	55

Match Description:

Brazilians March On
Brazil won the all-South American battle at the men's World Cup of Volleyball as they defeated Venezuela 3-0 to maintain their unbeaten record at Site B in Nagano.

The 2003 World League champions continued their march towards claiming a place at the Athens Olympic Games next season with an impressive 25-19, 25-16, 25-20 victory, while the young Venezuelan team has yet to win a set in their three World Cup losses.

Although Brazil were mostly a class apart from their less experienced opponents, they were forced to work hard in defense at the start of the opening set, with Ricardo Garcia and libero Sergio Santos especially alert to the spiking of Fredy Cedeno. But gradually the all-round skills of MIP Gilberto Filho Godoy and power of captain Nalbert Bitencourt and Anderson Rodrigues shone through as they comfortably took the opening set.

Venezuela captain Ernardo Gomez and Cedeno enjoyed some success in the second set but their team was always struggling against the presence of Gustavo Endres and Amaral Dante at the net, and the accurate setting of Garcia. The Brazilian service was also troubling their fellow South Americans as they eased into a two-set lead.

Venezuela coach Miguel Cambero made regular changes to his line-up in the third set in an attempt to stem the flow of points going their opponents' way, but there was little he could do as the Brazilians continued to dominate.

The result follows on from Brazil's earlier victories over Korea and France.

Comments:

"Venezuela is a very young and growing team that is showing a lot of talent. I think all the Brazilian players did very well today. It was the first appearance for some of them, and I also think our substitutions worked well. We are now focused on our next match, which is against Italy. This match will be crucial as Italy are one of the best sides in the world. Even when they are not playing so well it is always a tough match against them."
BERNARDO REZENDE
Head coach, Brazil

"It was a good match for those of us who had yet to play in the World Cup. We were worried before the game because Venezuela are a very good team, so we were extremely focused. It was a good win for us and now we're just looking forward to our next round of games.
GILBERTO GODOY FILHO

"Brazil are one of the best teams in the world, their overall ability is excellent. But I think my team did well against them. We played better than we did in our first two matches and I think are performances are improving. But we still need to be mentally stronger."
MIGULE CAMBERO
Head coach, Venezuela

"It was a very tough game since Brazil are one of the world's best teams. But we still have a good spirit in the team and I believe we are getting better with every performance."
FREDY CEDENO
Venezuela

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF